


eventually we are here

by LowDawn (EmpiricalBias)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, nothing but tooth-decaying fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 03:36:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9158356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpiricalBias/pseuds/LowDawn
Summary: Lúcio drinks him in, like a ray of the setting sun.





	

He hadn’t really had an ulterior motive in inviting Genji on a walk earlier that day, just an urge to get outside the Watchpoint for some fresh air and stretch his legs... so to speak. But when they stop on a sheltered ledge halfway to the peak of Gibraltar, Lúcio pauses to take in the view. The thought occurs to him naturally as he surveys the ocean and the vermilion sunset - he mulls the idea over, turns it like a smooth stone against his memory, and finds it true: they’ve never really said the words to each other before.

He watches a single ship bob lazily on the water, gaze adrift in the waves as he thinks. Overwatch is currently laying low after a successful hit on one of Talon's puppet companies, and the probability that they'll be caught out in an attack is small. Small enough that they have time to linger.

There's no doubt in his mind that he loves Genji. There's even less doubt in his mind that the feeling is mutual. They’ve conveyed it hundreds of times without saying the words aloud, of course; but there's something about the fact that it's never been _said_ , even after all this time.

He realizes he's been standing in the same spot for too long when Genji curls his arms around him from behind, bringing him back to the present with a chaste kiss to his temple. Lúcio makes his decision quickly. Genji almost never removes his mask outdoors, and he wants to take advantage of the opportunity. He takes a deep breath, back flush against a lean, armored chest, and closes his eyes. No reason to overthink it. 

“Hey, Genji,” he says. “I love you.”

It’s not an implication, nor a gentle goodbye through a messaging app, nor even a translation of Genji’s roundabout way of communicating; just the three words as a complete and self-sustaining sentiment, the phrase expressed for its own sake. Lúcio sneaks a look behind him after dropping the figurative bomb, and regrets not having done it earlier.

The expression on Genji’s face is visceral. It’s _everything_.

Lúcio drinks him in, like a ray of the setting sun.

“What’s the occasion?” Genji asks, once he’s recovered enough to breathe again (it’s less joking and more barely-controlled sputtering, with a strong dash of ‘blindsided yet transparently pleased and trying futilely to hide it’). But Lúcio can see the flush spreading across his skin, and hear the tiny motors shudder to life in his armor - to correct the rise in internal temperature, probably, that his biotic augmentations will never really understand.

They can recognize his heartbeat, though; can read its steadfast tempo through every point of contact. They can allow Genji to feel it accelerating in time to his own.

Despite willingly bringing himself into this situation (or maybe even because of it - on second thought, _definitely_ because of it), Lúcio is shaking. It’s the warmest time of the year in Gibraltar, so it’s not the wind or the salt spray. The cooling temperature, maybe. Adrenaline, maybe.

Love, maybe.

“No occasion,” Lúcio demurs, slyly, thumb running along the ridges of Genji’s knuckles. “I just wanted to tell you that I love you.” With one hand he finds and keeps a gentle hold on Genji’s left wrist, the one still holding the removable portion of his helmet. His other hand remains where it is, clasped with Genji’s cool fingers - warm skin interlocked with synthetic muscle, as if they have always belonged together.

Genji can’t escape, being held like that - so he begins looking determinedly over the cliffside and at a far corner of Gibraltar bay.

Lúcio acknowledges to himself that he’s laying it on pretty thick. Genji might actually short-circuit at this rate. 

So he says it again, just because he can. “I love you, you know.”

That does it.

“Hey, wait,” he exclaims, laughing as Genji finally, inevitably succumbs to his fluster and turns to hide his reddening face. “Don’t leave me hanging!”

He has to let go when Genji pulls away - not far, but far enough so that when both sets of vents spiral out of his shoulders, jetting steam that whisks away on the August breeze, there’s no danger of his locs getting caught in the moving parts. Lúcio tugs him back the moment the vents slide shut again, face to face this time, and waits with his forehead tucked into the crook of Genji’s neck.

He’s rewarded for his patience soon enough: Genji returns with a vengeance, matte palms sliding up his back and shoulder blades. Lúcio loops his arms around the textured paneling of his ribs and coaxes him closer with smiling, captive eyes. “Hello hello,” he grins.

Their faces alone must be radiating enough heat to register on all of Athena’s external arrays.

Genji’s jaw works, soundlessly. “Lúcio, I...” He has to stop, and try again. "I..."

No luck; the tears are finally falling, running down his nose and cheeks. He feels Lúcio reach up and sweep his fingers carefully over his scars, wiping the tracks away, but there are too many waiting to retrace them. Every gasping breath sends a fresh wave of drops rolling; in the palm Lúcio fits over the curve of his jaw, he finds reassurance, and allows himself to break.

The sun slants over the water, bathing the land and sea in light. It isn't long before he's calmed enough to breathe evenly again. Lúcio leans up and presses his lips to the corner of his mouth; a quiet gesture of comfort. Genji's eyelids flutter closed.

“Just so you know,” he croaks, and when Lúcio glances up at him, clears his throat. “Just so you know, this is all very romantic, and I am very flattered"—there's a beat, during which Genji sniffs—"but you are terrible for doing this without warning me, and I hate you.”

Lúcio bursts out laughing, despite himself. “Oh," he drawls upon seeing mirth wrinkle the skin around Genji's eyes, "is that so?"

 _He loves me_ , he thinks, achingly.

Genji smiles, gaze soft behind wet lashes. "The sunset is a nice touch. Very beautiful."

He's not looking at the sunset. 

"Oh my god," Lúcio groans, burying his face into his neck. "That's totally unfair." It should be illegal how easily Genji can affect him - and with a shameless cliché at that. His self-confidence smarts a little at having melted for such a simple line of flattery.

But two can play at that game.

Lúcio exhales, letting his breath fall on the swell of Genji's throat. "Genji. Gatinho. Meu amor," he says. "The things you do to me..." The corners of his eyes prick in tandem with the way his voice breaks on Genji's name. It's hard to find the words - harder still to form the words he _does_ find, between soaking up the hitch in Genji's breath and drowning in the swell of emotions in his chest. "Te adoro muito. Tú me haces feliz. Meu coração é teu, Genji."

“You’re trying to kill me,” Genji accuses, voice wavering. He only resists weakly when Lúcio drags him down, all too willing to meet his lover halfway - the kiss is brief, but it tastes like a promise, like life is being breathed into him for the second time. Maybe he wouldn't have minded dying so much if he knew it meant coming back to this. It's a thought he'll keep to himself.

"I love you," Lúcio sighs. "If I knew you would react like this, I would have said it sooner."

Genji whispers, catching Lúcio's hand before it can leave his face, pressing their foreheads together. “Keep going. Don’t let me stop you."

“I thought you said I was terrible,” Lúcio whispers back merrily, happily caught. He can hardly hear himself above his own pounding heart, the roaring in his ears. “You hate me, remember?”

“Never," Genji promises, with absolute certainty. "I could never hate you," he says, then surprises the both of them with what follows: "I love you.” Lúcio startles visibly at that, lips parting in surprise. While the words are still warm on his tongue Genji gathers himself and repeats, more quietly, more fiercely, “Lúcio, _I love you._ "

This time it's Lúcio that forgets to breathe.

"I take it back," he declares. "I hate you."

Genji laughs, and it sounds like music to his ears.

**Author's Note:**

> I killed myself dead writing this, so the least I can do is share the pain. You're welcome!
> 
> I don't speak Portuguese, and I definitely don't speak Brazilian Portuguese; any and all criticism on that front is also highly welcome.


End file.
